Madras High Court Criticises Decade-Long Delay In Election Dispute, Declares DMK Candidate Rightful Winner

The Madras High Court has declared DMK leader M. Appavu as the rightful winner of the 2016 Radhapuram Assembly election, nearly ten years after the poll was conducted. The Court set aside the election of AIADMK candidate I.S. Inbadurai and held that Appavu had in fact won by 103 votes after a judicial re-verification of postal ballots and counting records.

Justice G. Jayachandran strongly criticised the prolonged delay in resolving election disputes, observing that statutory provisions requiring election petitions to be decided within six months had been effectively ignored. The Court remarked that when election litigation continues beyond the tenure of the legislature itself, the process becomes a “mockery of justice” and undermines democratic governance.

The Court also expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s decision to remit the matter back to the High Court after the appeal remained pending for about six years. It observed that the core legal issue regarding the validity of postal ballots could have been conclusively decided by the Apex Court instead of being left open.

On merits, the Court found that 153 postal ballots cast in Appavu’s favour had been wrongly rejected because they were attested by Middle School Headmasters. Since such Headmasters are recognised as Gazetted Officers under applicable rules, the rejection was held illegal.

Accordingly, the Court declared Appavu the duly elected MLA for the 2016–2021 term and directed official records to be corrected. However, it declined to impose any electoral disqualification on the returned candidate, noting that the dispute arose from administrative errors rather than corrupt practices.

Case: M. Appavu v. I.S. Inbadurai.